Upon hearing this news, Jiang He jumped with joy on the spot, cheerfully slapping Guan Cheng’s shoulder without his previous sternness.
"Guan Cheng, we truly bask in your good fortune! Such a great fortune! We homeless children are all poor laborers, and if we have household registration, we will all be classified as poor farmers. As long as there is a place willing to take us in and it’s a productive team with a high grain output, the capable ones amongst us will be able to sustain ourselves as long as we don’t slack off!"
Zhang Erya understood, and was stunned.
The other children, not as quick-witted or as old, saw their happiness and started laughing innocently along.
Seeing Guan Cheng again a few days later, they were so happy.
"Don’t celebrate too early. Auntie Xue’s uncle is not at home, and we still don’t know if we can get the household registration!" Guan Cheng spoke these words, yet his face was full of smiles.
Jiang He laughed saying, "Regardless if it happens or not, at least we have a glimmer of hope, right?"
Making a swift decision, Jiang He ordered everyone to pack up their belongings and leave Guandi Temple.
Their possessions were simple: their dog-beating sticks, damaged pots and broken bowls, and all the dried grass and firewood in the temple were bundled up tightly and tied securely onto their bodies with hemp ropes.
They left in great numbers and arrived at West Mountain with the same grandeur.
Some air raid shelters were very deep, some shallow; some had a deep well inside, and some even had a toilet. The walls were covered in moss, but each air raid shelter had ventilation since people needed to breathe fresh air when they took shelter here during air raids.
There were also specifically built stone chambers in the shelter, though not many.
Guan Cheng and Lu Tianjun organized two stone chambers, covered with thick dried grass.
"Boys live in one room, girls in the other, and the old mattress is for the girls to lay on."
Just as Guan Cheng finished speaking, Feng Qingxue’s voice came from outside, "I have another old mattress here, take it for your use. When I have the time and materials, I’ll figure out a way to make quilts for you to use in winter."
"Auntie Xue, you’re here!" Guan Cheng greeted her and accepted the old mattress and basket she brought.
Spotting that none of the children were missing, Feng Qingxue flashed a comforting smile and spoke to Guan Cheng and Jiang He, "I’ve already arranged for someone to try to get you some coarse food like soya cake. If we’re lucky, we might get some sweet potato flour. I’ll deliver it to you as soon as I get them. There might not be much, but please don’t mind."
Jiang He quickly responded, "We don’t mind at all, not at all, Auntie Xue, I’ll call you that like Guan Cheng does. When we were begging for food, anyone who was willing to give us a soya cake was a great person!"
Anything that fills the stomach is good, anything to avoid starvation is good enough.
In these two years when they were begging for food, they saw too many people who were so hungry that they ate dirt, only to die from constipation in the end.
Feng Qingxue took out a big copper pot, its surface dented with impact marks, from her basket, "I’ve checked, there’s a well inside one of the shelters, and a stream outside too. Boil the water before you drink to avoid illness. I’ll think of something later, and see if I can get you a pot for cooking and frying food. Home, should feel like home."
At that last sentence, Guan Cheng, Jiang He, and Erya couldn’t help their tears from streaming down their faces.
Home, yes, home. This was their home, their home where they depended on each other for survival.